


Willow Falls

by genop0ke



Series: Willow Falls [2]
Category: Willow Falls
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-11 23:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3336113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genop0ke/pseuds/genop0ke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An amnesia-stricken boy wakes up in a hospital in the middle of the town of Willow Falls, full of supernatural creatures from many a tale. After being told he has a malignant spirit living in his body, how will he cope with adjusting to life at Willow Falls?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awakening

Bright lights made opening his eyes a struggle, almost painful, at that. His entire body felt as limp and heavy as a rag soaked to the core with cold water. He could barely lift his head, let alone a weak arm to feel that he had a thin wrapping of clean gauze on his head. Did he have some kind of concussion? He didn’t feel like he had one, and he knew what those felt like.

...did he? He couldn’t remember a thing. All he knew were two words. Edward Allens. Was that his name? Probably.

After a few long minutes, he felt awake enough to sit up and look around. He was in a hospital room. The floor was shiny and very reflective. It would be good to know who he was, at least his own appearance, right? He had short, pale hair, the same color as a light dusting of snow. The only abnormality was a stain of inky black in the left side of the roots of his hair. His eyes were almond-shaped, the irises holding an icy blue hue. He most likely had albinism, it seemed.

The sound of the door opening made him become alert. Who was that? Was he supposed to know this person?

A woman with straight brown hair cut just below her shoulders came into the room, holding a clipboard under one arm. A few thick strands of her locks were drawn back to the back of her head, braided and affixed there by a large barrette. Her expression held nothing but a businesslike, blank slate, with the sightest hint of caring in her honey-colored eyes. She was in the hospital’s uniform, with a large logo made out of red, green, and white medical crosses of varying sizes on the back of her coat.

“Ah, so you’re awake.” She stated with a dull tone, holding the clipboard in her hands and tapping a pen on the surface.

Edward strains to keep his eyes open under the bright lights, tilting his head slightly to convey his confusion. “...who... are you?” At least he could remember one thing- how to actually talk.

“I’m a doctor, honey.” She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Call me Doctor J. That’s all the information I’m willing to give out. We’re unsure on whether or not you’re a good guy, considering you seem to have a dangerous escaped subject in your body.”

Escaped subject? In… in his body? That was a huge shock to be one of the first new memories he was given. How does that work? It’s not like ghosts existed or anything. “...subject? In… my body..?” His head was throbbing due to his slight photophobia making his eyes hurt, and it was difficult to focus.

“Subject #001 of the Dark Matter Containment Program. A malignant wraith known to form bonds with souls of people’s bodies, only able to be held back by powerful magic. We believe the only reason you aren’t taken over by zero-zero-one is because of a charm your familiar has on you.”

This was too much information for Edward to handle. “...program..? Wraith? Magic… familiar? I… don’t understand.”

“You will eventually. Trust me-” Doctor J held up a single index finger as a bluetooth in her ear beeped. She held her hand on a button on the side, listening closely to whoever was on the other end. Nodding quietly, she left the room for a moment and came back after a short few minutes. She held a bundle of clothes in her arms and sat it down on the bed Edward was in. “Get dressed. Your familiar is waiting for you in the lobby, and we’ve deemed you stable enough to leave for now.”

The doctor strolled out of the room, the sound of her heels clicking against the floor echoing down the hall as the door slowly closed. Taking a few breaths and steadying himself after standing, Edward took off the thin hospital gown covering his body and got dressed.

* * *

Wearing rectangular-framed glasses, and a comfortable black hoodie over a white dress shirt with the collar sticking out of the hood of the pullover, Edward stepped out into the lobby, looking around. A woman with dark skin and long, feathery black hair perked up. She had a strange, unearthly feel to her, with blank white eyes and an almost stellar look to her hair, matching a long dress that appeared stylized to look like it was made out of feathers and beads.

“Poe!”

Edward looked at the woman, making eye contact. Did this woman think his name was Poe? “...do you mean me? It’s Edward.”

“No, silly!” The woman turned into a raven with that same stellar quality to its feathers in a burst of mist, flapping over to the boy. “You’re Poe! Everyone calls you that, remember?”

“...no. I don’t remember anything.”

Turning back into her human form, the raven frowned, looking truly hurt. “...oh, come on. It’s me, Riamh..! Do you even remember any spells?”

“No. I don’t.”

Riamh huffed and took Poe’s hand, guiding him out of the hospital.

The town they were in was huge, having a massive school in the center of it all. There were no roads or cars, just your own feet to get around. Small houses were scattered around the town, with a large dormitory connected to the school. Poe quickly realized they were heading towards the school, passing by a large sign reading “Willow Falls School For Beings of All Ages”.

“Do I even go here?”

“Not yet, but I got you enrolled in classes I know you’ll do well in. A bit of Matter 101, some basic magic classes to help you remember your skills, familiar bond training, as well as some writing, since I’ve noticed you have a knack for figurative writing and composition.” The woman had returned to her state as a raven, flitting ahead of the boy to guide him.

“Magic? That’s not real, is it?”

“Oh, Poe…” Riamh lighted down on the back of a bench near the entrance of the school. “...if you go on believing that things like magic and ghosts and demons aren’t real, you’ll drive yourself crazy with how wrong you’ll be proven.”

The school was currently empty, with signs posted on the walls, reading: “Students: Report to dormitory of appropriate age group upon entry.” The duo followed the signs to the building, which was connected to the school by a tunnel going under a large pond full of exotic fish. A woman with long, curly red hair and a casket hat sat at a desk, with patches of her pale skin and one of her green eyes appearing to be made of stone.

“...are you alright, miss?” Poe asked warily.

She looked up after adjusting a small sign that says: “My name is Maxwell Ulrich. Ask me if you need help.” Maxwell rolled her eyes and nodded, pulling out a small notepad.

“Do you know where my dorm is? I’m… er… Edward Allens.”

After writing down her response in a flurry of ink on paper, she ripped the page out and thrusted it in Poe’s direction, going back to reading ‘Kill Your Darlings’.

“Er… thank you?” He looked down at the paper and read it. ‘I am perfectly fine, only turning into a being of stone after making eye contact with the local Cockatrice. Your dorm is number #075, down hallway B.’ Looking to Riamh, the boy tucked the paper in his pocket and went down a hallway labeled with ‘B’. He quickly found his room, stepping inside. A boy with puffy ginger hair sat back in a computer chair, comfortably wearing a fur-lined pilot jacket with a small yellow star pin on it. Emerald eyes looked up at the other.

“Sup, newbie? I’m Milton Travis. Everyone calls me Milo.”

“Edward Allens. Apparently I also go by Poe.”

“...right. You’re the amnesia kid I heard about. Heard you’ve been in a coma for a week. Woke up just in time for the new school year! I’m your roomie.” Milo stood up and smiled, holding his hand out. He looked relatively normal, having a freckle-dusted face and four pearly white, feathery wings tucked behind him. Okay, not too normal. “Don’t mind the wings! I’m a Seraph.”

Riamh hopped off of Poe’s shoulder as he shook hands with the boy, pecking at a small package on a desk in the room. “Ah, you kept the package I was meaning to give to Poe. Thank you.”

“No prob.” Milo picked up the small box, handing it to the other boy. “Open it.”

Nodding, Poe did as he was told, opening the box. A wispy, black feather with the same eerie feel to it as Riamh’s sat in it, attached to a string by two dark bluish-violet beads of different sizes. “What’s this?”

“It’s a charm to ward off the Dark Matter and the spirit, as well as keeping a cap on how powerful your magic can get.”

“...right. I knew magic, right?”

“Mhm.”

Milo perked up, looking at a clock. “Ah! It’s getting late already?” In surprise, Poe looked at the same clock, - a digital clock on a small screen inlaid into the wall over the door of the dorm - shocked that it was already 9:00 P.M. “We better head to bed, newbie. Hope you’re ready for a ton of new faces to meet and greet tomorrow, cause it’s orientation for the new school year. The school’s been completely redone since last year… I heard they installed a bunch of new tech and got big screens everywhere, as well as a digital mascot that doubles as an antivirus called Starshine or something. I’m stoked, are you?”

“...sure. I’m only nervous because, well, I kind of have no idea who any of you people are, you know?”

“Ah, right.”

The two quickly switched into comfortable pyjamas supplied by the school and got into bed. Poe noticed that Milo’s bed - the lower bunk - had a lot of posters on the wall around it, depicting heroes, birds, and stars. The top bunk was as comfortable as the clothes he now wore, thankfully. His eyelids were already heavy, though that may have just been the fatigue from being knocked out for a week straight.

He went into deep thought, staring at the ceiling and refusing to sleep yet. Who exactly was he? Who was Riamh? How did he have a grip on magic, exactly? Where was he, and how was he here? Who was Subject #001?

Milo’s voice broke him out of his train of thought. “Night, newbie.”

Poe rolled onto his side with a sleepy yawn, setting his glasses on a small shelf set into the wall beside his bunk.

“Goodnight, Milo.”


	2. Meet and Greet

“Rise and shine, Poe! It’s time to meet people!”

Milo’s voice disturbed the boy from his sleep. A strange dream kept visiting him in his sleep, involving glowing white eyes and an ominous voice telling him he’d lose everything. Talk about a foreboding dream.

“...nnh… five more minutes, alright..?”

“No, no, we’re already gonna be late! Don’t make it worse!” Milo climbed up and pulled on Poe’s leg, beckoning to leave the bed. Soon enough, they were dressed in the school’s plain uniform - a black blazer and pants, accompanied by a white dress shirt and a tie of a varying color. From a tidbit of info Milo beckoned to Poe, he found out that the color determined your strength when it came to your classes: Red, athletics; green, sciences; blue, literature; yellow, mathematics; orange, arts; violet, magics; gray, undetermined. Poe’s tie was violet, while his roommate’s was red, most likely as he was an excellent flier, which counted under the athletic spectrum.

The duo left the dorm area at a brisk pace. On orientation day, the halls were free-roam with no determined objectives to get at besides making acquaintances with any newcomers, such as himself. Immediately, he spotted a pair who were quite out of the ordinary.

“...ah, come on, big brother! Can’t we go meet the new kid I heard about? He can’t be that bad.” A tiny girl with long, straight black hair whined. A red headband held her bangs out of her round, cobalt eyes, and she appeared to have a blue ribbon with her uniform. Was she a normal girl? Probably not, considering she had large cat ears and a fluffy tail. One of her ears perked up and twitched, and she turned around. “--hey, look, there he is!”

“Midori, he sounds like bad news. I definitely do not trust him- Midori!” An immensely tall boy with slicked-back ginger hair and narrow blue eyes hissed. He had a splash of freckles under his left eye, as well as a blue tie made into a tight trinity knot in his uniform. He… appeared to be the most normal out of the two. Then Poe looked down more. Nope. Below his waist, he had an insectlike body, like a large centipede’s body except not extremely long, proportionally, with four pairs of legs. Two smaller pairs were higher up and more centered on the body. To match that, there were two long, thin strands of hair coming from his head, almost like antennae. Perhaps they were?

The girl ran up to Poe, smiling nervously. “A-ah… how do I, er… k-konnichiwa!” She awkwardly bowed, pressing her palms together.

“...Midori, haven’t I told you? Don’t speak Japanese to people unless you know they’ll understand.”

“But everyone knows that konnichiwa means hello! B-besides… it’s my first language, it just comes naturally…” She looked back at Poe after throwing a pout at the half-bug. “S-sorry about that! I’m Midori Suzuki, a, er, nekomata. I’m in the age group of eleven, though I share a room with my big brother since we have to be together all the time!”

Sighing, the big brother in question came up to them, losing about two feet off of his eight foot height as his legs vanished in a flash, being replaced by normal, human looking ones. “Adair Delrick, of the age nineteen group. Centipede demon. We’re siblings through adoption, though with the rest of my family… there’s magicians and a naga making up my blood siblings, I’m just going to assume my father really got around and kept all the offspring.”

“You didn’t have to give Poe reasoning behind why you’re related to a cat girl, Del…” Milo nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Can I get a word in?” Poe interrupted, frowning. “To you two- Edward Allens, although I’ve adopted the nickname of ‘Poe’. Age… seventeen? Seventeen group. Magician. That’s it.” He kept his introduction brief, as he expected he would need to repeat it at LEAST a dozen times today.

Someone roughly shoved his back, causing him to stumble forward and yelp. He looked around, confused to find that no one was there. Snickering echoed in his ears.

“...Drake, is this really the time to pick on a new student? No.” Adair bluntly snapped, folding his arms across his chest.

A boy with messy black hair emerged from within Poe’s own shadow with a cross pout on his face. “But Wata and I always do this! You know that.” He leaned against the wall, rolling his gold-colored eyes. Did he ever sleep? Dark circles ringed his eyelids, surprisingly noticeable against his olive skin. He wore a scorched, beige trench coat over his uniform, which included a blue tie. After staring down Adair for a good few moments, he groaned and glanced at Poe. “...Drake Mevel. Ghost in the eighteen age group. I’m only considered eighteen since I died at that age. Died in Ireland, back in 1891. House fire.”

Another boy rounded the corner, wearing a coat similar to Drake’s, but newer-looking and a sleek black. He had short, spiky ginger hair, with medium-length, shaggy black bangs hanging into his blue eyes. Freckles covered his face and most likely most of his body. Small black horns poked out of his hair on the outer corners of his forehead, matching the color of his batlike wings and long, slender tail. He wore an orange tie with his uniform. “Found that Poe kid, eh, Drake?”

“Mhm. What a NERD, huh? He does magic.”

“Yeah, heh.” The boy directed his smirk at Poe. “Sup, newbie? Watson Curtis, though the “cool kids” call me Wata. I’m an imp in the eighteen class. I do acting, and I’m pretty damn good at it, too.” Boy, was this guy full of himself. He looked arrogant and pretty douchey.

“Buzz off, dumb and dumber.” Milo groaned. “I’m trying to guide Poe to our usual meeting place so he can meet everyone!”

Watson grimaced, sneering at Milo at the mention of the insult. “Dumb and dumber? Tough words for a guy who serves a nonexistent old man in the sky.”

“At least my dad isn’t considered a reincarnation of a guy that literally everyone hates because he’s such a terrible person!”

“Dude, my dad isn’t Satan, how many times do I have to tell you that? You’re the only guy who thinks he is. We weren’t even originally demons, we just fucked up and did something horrible enough that some omniscient bastard decided we were too bad to be human anymore.”

The two were practically in each other’s faces, on each side of Poe. The boy nervously pushed them apart, sweating slightly. “...can we stop fighting and get on with letting me get to know people?”

“Alright, alright…” The seraph huffed and pushed away from the imp, still glaring in his direction. “Let’s go.”

Poe noticed that Milo still wasn’t moving from his spot, so he grabbed one of his sleeves and began walking, dragging the angel behind him. There’s a way to do things.

“Alright, alright, stop dragging me!” Milo pulled his arm away and frowned. “Out here.” He pushed a door open, gesturing outside. “We usually meet up around the tables in the field.”

Surely enough, there was a small gathering of people in the field. A boy with blond hair tied back into a shaggy ponytail perked up, thrusting his palm in Poe’s direction.

“Stop right there.”

“...wha..?”

Milo rolled his eyes, nudging the other along. “Don’t mind Xander, he acts like that towards all the newbies.”

“What’s he doing?”

“He calls it ‘probing’. He’s just looking into your mind to see if you’re a trustworthy guy or not. He’s a medium.”

The Xander kid huffed, pushing his square glasses higher up over his brown eyes. His uniform had a violet tie with it. Another magic user. Another boy with a brown undercut and spider legs coming from his back sat under a table, finger-weaving a web between two legs. “--Ryan!” Xander snapped. “Stop that!”

“...but I’m bored.”

“Stoppit-- oh, right… er, newbie, I’m Xander Tristain. Medium in the sixteen group. That guy over there is Ryan Taylor, also in my group.”

The spider boy stood up, frowning. He appeared to have black scleras and golden irises, with small fangs poking out of his mouth. A black widow’s red hourglass marking was visible on his forehead, slightly difficult to see over his olive skin. He appeared to have tiny, round, extra eyes over his eyebrows, in little rows of three over each. “Fine, I’ll stop. You didn’t have to introduce me, I could’ve done that myself.”

A small, chubby boy with bear ears poking out of fluffy orange hair leaned over the table, whining. He pulled the hood of his pumpkin-colored hoodie over his head, sticking his tongue out and puffing up his cheeks. “Uuaaaaahhhhhh… I’m so hungryyyyy….”

“...who’s that?” Poe asked, pointing at the whining boy.

“...oh, me?” He sat up, still holding onto the edges of his hood. Wide, green eyes looked up at the albino. “I’m Bean. I’m… uh… some kind of bear thing, I dunno. I’m in the fifteen group… cause I’m fifteen. Do you have food?”

“No, sorry.”

“...don’t talk to me then. I’m hungryyyy…”

“Do you wanna stay here for a bit?” Milo asked, looking at Poe. “I’ll grab the others.”

Poe nodded quietly. “Sure. Might as well become acquainted.”

“Alright! I’ll get them.”

The seraph went back inside, and soon came back with the other four.


	3. An Important Announcement

 

The next day, Poe was awoken by an announcement about an hour before his alarm. The digital clock read 5:00 a.m.on its face, making the boy and his roommate groan at the idea of losing an hour of sleep.

"Attention students, please report to the gymnasium. There is something important that has come to our attention."

The duo quickly dressed themselves, sleepily making their way into the massive gym. The bleachers were extended from each wall, with hundreds of students already perched in the metal rows. Milo looked around, then hopped with a smile, grabbing Poe's arm and running.

"What are you doing?" The albino protested, reluctantly allowing himself to be dragged along.

The seraph tossed a cheerful grin over his shoulder, pointing into the top left corner of one side of the gym. The ragtag group of students that Poe was acquainted with and Milo was friends with sat there. "Over there!"

They rushed up the bleachers, clumsily crashing into an empty spot next to Xander. As soon as they got situated, the principal began to speak. A tall, lithe man, his dark red hair greyed with age, he looked like a regal dragon. He wore a business suit, with two pale, curved horns poking out of his head, fangs peeking out of his mouth. A long, draconic tail coiled neatly at his feet.

"It has come to our attention that there have been thefts recently, the earliest one coming from two days ago. Recently, the stolen goods have been increasing in value. If you have any idea on who the thief is, report to the disciplinary committee head, Mrs. Ulrich."

He gestured at a woman with long, silvery hair, looking completely normal besides the fact her forearms appeared to be made of stone. "Once the thief is caught, they will be punished with ten days of banishment to the forest." She added, folding her hands neatly in her lap. A hush went over the crowd, confusing Poe. What was the forest and what was so bad about it?

"The forest?" Oops. A mistake. He didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Mister Edward Allens, please come down to the bottom row."

"Did I do something wrong..?" He gulped, standing up and slowly walking down the bleachers. Watson tried tripping him, and he almost fell, to the amusement of a few peers that chuckled at that.

"You obviously are our newest student. You don't realize that we don't exactly appreciate speaking out." The dragon hissed, his tone and expression blank with a hint of anger in his eyes. "I'll let you off with a warning."

With a silent, nervous stare, Poe nodded, cracking an uneasy smile and backing off.

"That concludes our assembly. Please report to your homeroom class. It will be extended today since you have half an hour before school officially begins."

* * *

 

As Poe and Milo went separate ways to go to their homeroom, Poe realized something. He had no idea how to get around this school. At least they passed out little paper fliers with maps of the school on them every year! He pulled it out, looking at the layout of the building. Homeroom… Mr. Curtis, room 104. That was close by.

After a short bit of walking, there it was. Room number one-oh-four. A plate above the door read ‘Mr. Curtis’ in small, bold lettering. He gripped the handle and turned, tugging open the door and stepping inside. About fifteen others, all unfamiliar, sat inside, with a black-haired man at the desk in it.

He looked young, with his dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a bit of a goatee on his chin. He wore the teacher’s form of the school uniform - which is identical to the school uniform, except with a name tag and a choice on the color of tie or scarf. His tie was a deep violet color. Mr. Curtis had blue eyes, though the left one was dull and discolored from a pair of parallel scars passing from right above it in the eyebrow, and down his face.

“Edward Allens, is it?”

Poe nodded. “Yes, sir.”

A frown came upon the teacher’s face as he pointed to an empty seat. “You’re late. Siddown.”

The albino flinched, whimpering at the tense tone, traipsing over to the chair and sitting down in it.

“Alright, kiddos, while I pretend to discuss year-long goals to you so Principal Draco won’t take a verbal crap of anger on me later, introduce yourselves to the new kid.”

Poe quietly pulled out a notebook, idly writing in it. “...first of all, I’m… Edward Allens. You can call me Poe. Seventeen group, specialty is magic.”

A stout boy with messy blond hair covering most of his head nudged Poe with his elbow, causing him to startle and mess up his writing. “Oh, whooops! Hehe!” The boy snickered, his orange eyes full of mischief. He sat back in his chair, opening and closing a lighter and looking at the flame. A red tie was visible under his blazer. “Boom. Just Boom. Fourteen group, specialty is athletics even though I don’t have a single class in that besides gym. I make illegal fireworks, but don’t let Mrs. Ulrich know that!”

“Illegal fireworks? Isn’t that… illegal?”

With an almost chuckle-like purr, a white cat hopped into Poe’s lap. “Of courrrse it’s illegal, kid.”

“A… talking cat?”

“Dude, didn’t you meet nekomata girrrl yesterrrday? This shouldn’t be a surrrprrrise.” The cat huffed and hopped onto the table, transforming into the form of a teenage girl. She had bluish hair (probably dyed) with it parted into clean, spiky locks. One section on the right side of her head was all white. Dark brown eyes looked at Poe with a condescending look over dark skin. A violet tie was neatly pressed under her blazer. “Memphis Okoro. Eighteen group. Magic. Part of a group of vigilantes. We call ourselves the magic six, cause most of us are skilled in some kind of magic. For me, it’s shapeshifting. The other five are part of this homeroom, too.”

It was hard to process all of this, for Poe. “Magic… six?”

“Mhm, oui!” A girl with a messy brown bun smiled at Poe from across the room, running over to the small gathering. She had reddish-looking, round eyes and pale, blushing skin. One of her hands self-consciously fixed and tightened a green tie. “Florence Black, at your service! Same group as Memphy over here, but I do better in athletic, sporty things. They count my second-best subject, which is science, though, cause my magic gives me an unfair advantage in athletics. I can give myself super strength, isn’t that cool?!”

“Sounds more like a cliche superpower to me.” Poe retorted, huffing.

His chair, with him still seated in it, was lifted into the air by one of Florence’s hands. “What was that?”

“E-er, noth-nothing! Please let me down.”

She sat him down, crossing her arms with a pout. “It better have been nothing.”

“Oh, come ooon, Flo! Don’t tease the newbie like that!” A small girl with orange hair whined, her green eyes assisting a puppy dog eyes look. She wore a gray tie with her uniform. “But, ah…” Her look was sent then to Poe as a smile. “Alex Jones, thirteen, I don’t know what I’m good at yet! I’m not part of the six, but my big bro is!” Alex became captivated by the odd feather around Poe’s neck. “Ooh, what’s that..? Can I touch it?”

“Do not touch it.”

“But…”

A very tall, muscularly built boy sighed, taking Alex into his arms and carrying her to the other side of the room, setting her down there. “Don’t.”

“Gaaaallll!”

“Do not.” He exasperatedly sighed, walking back to the group around Poe. “Gallagher Jones, though many call me Galaga.” One hand messed with his dull red hair cut into a generic undercut. His narrow green eyes occasionally glanced back at his sister. “Eighteen. Athletics.” Gallagher spoke with a dull, orderly tone.

The bell rang. “Well, I guess I’ll have to meet all of you some other time! Gotta get to Matter 101, you know..?” Poe quickly gathered all of his things together and made a beeline for the door.

“Yeesh, that kid is weird.” Florence muttered.

A boy with messy blond hair that had fox ears poking out of it looked out the door with an interested look. “...that feather. I want it.”

  
“Please report to your first hour class by 7:35. The time is 7:30.” 


	4. The Willow by the Falls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see, readers!

It was only day two, and Poe was already doing exciting, possibly life threatening, but exciting things. Him and a bunch of others were going on a trip. It wasn't any specific age group or class, just a random choice of people. Thankfully, he already knew six people! Adair, Drake, Milo, Xander, Watson, and Ryan were there. Drake and the latter two weren't as... appealing, but tolerable.

They were going on a trip into Tanglewood. Wasn't it dangerous and off limits?

"You'll be fine, unless you get your period, you pansy! I heard they're attracted to blood, here."

Ryan immediately got smacked on the head by Xander. "Not only was that sexist, but it was unnecessary."

"I was just joking, man! Don't tell Sadako." He whined.

"We'll be safe. They aren't as aggressive around animalistic ones. Milton has wings, Watson has wings, you're stuck half-spider, I'm practically half-centipede, Edward has a raven... and so on." Adair assured, looking straight ahead as they walked to the rusted, ivy-covered gate at the northern edge of town. Overgrown tree canopies hung over the tall, reinforced fence, untrimmed grasses sprouting between the gaps. A bird's call rang in the forest, answered by other birds and insects.

The one watching over them, a tall woman with scaly skin and a lizard's tail, went to the gate, swiftly undoing the locks and tugging it open. The gate protested with a loud squall. She pushed it aside, standing with her back against it and looking at the others with expectancy.

Poe looked around at the others with him. There were about six others, including a girl with fox ears, a girl who appeared to be a satyr, some weird bird with sunglasses, a short boy with fluffy white hair and ram horns, a boy with a raccoon tail, and a normal looking boy with curly brown hair.

“Am I the only person without some weird animal-related trait?” Drake muttered, looking around.

“No way, I am.” Xander mused, a snide grin coming on his face as he nudged the spirit in the side with an elbow. “You’re an animal, alright.”  
“Really.” The phantom rolled his eyes.

Xander snickered. “Yeah! You’re an ass!”

Drake jumped at the esper, practically snarling from annoyance. Adair sighed, picking up the somewhat short boy and hoisting him under an arm. “H-hey!! Let me down!”

“So, uh, who are you guys?” Poe asked, looking at the six strangers. “I think I’ve seen some of you around, though.”

The girl with fox ears hopped up, grinning. Her braided black hair hung back behind her, contrasting with her bright blue eyes and fanged grin. “I’m Katie! Katherine Vick, buuut, yeah! Katie!” She waved her pair of black, blue-tipped tails, looking over Poe with curious eyes. “You’re… that Poe kid, right? Magician, I heard! I’m a kitsune. Decided to take a more “traditional” and easier to pronounce name on after coming here. People always struggled to pronounce my old one outside of my home.”

“Ah… nice to know. Katherine, please, settle down.” The satyr girl smiled lightly, patting the kitsune’s head. She had long, wavy hair, with smallish antlers poking out of the top. Despite being a satyr, she wasn’t part goat; she was part faun. “Sephrona Rogan. Most call me Sophie. I’m a satyr.”

The boy with fleecy white hair yawned, smiling quietly at Poe. He signed something out.

“...ah?”

“Oh. He’s mute. He’s saying, ahhhh…. his name’s Flick. He’s a ram satyr. We call him Fleecy, though!” The boy with raccoon bits grinned, his tiny fangs glistening in the sunlight. “I’m Tanaka, but people call me Nuki! I’m not actually a tanuki, I’m just part raccoon.”

Rubbing his eyes, the boy with curly brown hair waved at the albino. “Hello!” He sneezed quietly, the noise more akin to a squeak. “...ahhh… allergiesss…. I’m William! I’m Adair’s brother. You’re a magician too, huh?”

“Wait, how does that--”

Adair looked back at the older magician, shaking his head. “Claus really got around.”

After a while, they made it to their destination. A hollowed-out area, where a misty waterfall toppled over a cliff into a large pond in the center of the crater-like dropoff. Large willow trees surrounded the edge of the land, dipping the long ends of their branches down below. A gaping hole was visible in the side of the cliff, leading to a cave full of quartz.

“Here we are, students.” The teacher, her name being Ms. Scalor as seen on her nametag, shouted over the distant sound of the roaring water.

“The willow by the falls!”

In the brush where the group emerged, a group of four canines sat, waiting. Their eyes shone through the darkness.

_ “Trespassers…” _


End file.
